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International  Sunday  School  Lesson 

October    18th,    1896. 


SOLOMON'S. 
WeftLTff 


. .  ftND  . . 


Wisdom. 


-I  Kings  iv.:  25-34. 


QOLPeN  Text 


'♦Them  that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  and  they  that  despise 
me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."— 1  5am.  ii.  30. 


TRINITY  •  SUNDftY  •  SCHOOL. 

[Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South]. 

Durham,  N.  C. 
JULIAN  S.  CARR,  Teacher — — &^ 


International  Sunday  School  Lesson 


October     18th,    1890. 


SOLOMON'S 
WeftLTH 


.  .ftND.. 


Wisdom 


I   Kings  iv.:  25=34. 


QOLDgN   TeXT 


®  &  ® 


Them  that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  and  they  that  despise 
me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."- 1  Sam.  ii.  30. 


TRINITY     SUNDAY  ■  SCHOOL, 

[Methodist  Episcopal  Church,   South]. 

Durham,  N.  C. 
JULIAN  S.  CARR.  Teacher ==v 


Durham,  N.  C.  Oct.  nth,  1896. 

Please  Notice. 

fDO  not  claim  originality  for  this  lecture  as  a  whole.  In 
preparing  my  lesson,  I  incorporate  bodily  any  sug- 
gestion that  I  find  in  any  of  the  various  "Helps"  I  use. 
My  class  is  composed  of  some  forty  persons,  averag- 
ing, I  guess  £0  years  of  age.  Some  of  them  it  may  be, 
were  members  of  the  Church  before  I  was  born,  and 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  ripe  Christian  experience.  Hence 
it  taxes  my  abilities  to  teach  such  a  class,  to  such  extent, 
that  although  I  give  much  time  to  the  preparation  of  my 
lesson,  I  copy  freely  any  idea,  expression,  paragraph  or 
illustration,  which  in  my  judgment  will  make  the  lesson 
better,  and  calculated  to  do  good. 

JULIAN  S.  CARR, 

Teacher  of  Class  No.  6. 

Trinity  Sunday  School,  Durham,  N.  C. 


I   Kings   IV.:   25-34. 


25.  And  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt 
safely,  every  man  under  his  vine 
and  under  his  tig  tree,  from  Dan 
even  to  Beer-sheba,  all  the  days 
of  Solomon. 

26.  And  Solomon  had  forty 
thousand  stalls  of  horses  for  his 
chariots,  and  twelve  thousand 
horsemen. 

27.  And  those  officers  provided 
victuals  for  king  Solomon,  and  for 
all  that  came  unto  king  Solomons 
table,  every  man  in  his  month  : 
they  lacked  nothing. 

28.  Barley  also  and  straw  for  the 
horses  and  dromedaries  brought 
they  unto  the  place  where  the  offi- 
cers were,  every  man  according  to 
his  charge. 

29.  And  God  gave  Solomon  wis- 
dom and  understanding  exceeding 
much,  and  largeness  of  heart,  even 
as  the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea 
shore. 


30.  And  Solomon's  wisdom  ex- 
celled the  wisdom  of  all  the  chil- 
dren of  the  east  country,  and  all 
the  wisdom  of  Egypt. 

31.  For  he  was  wiser  than  all 
men  ;  than  Ethan  the  Ezrahite, 
and  Heman,  and  Chalcol,  and 
Darda,  the  sons  of  Mahol  :  and 
his  fame  was  in  all  nations  round 
about. 

32.  And  he  spake  three  thou- 
sand proverbs  :  and  his  songs 
were  a  thousand  and  five. 

^^.  And  he  spake  of  trees,  from 
the  cedar  tree  that  is  in  Lebanon 
even  unto  the  hyssop  that  spring- 
eth  out  of  the  wall  :  he  spake  also 
of  beasts,  and  of  fowl,  and  of 
creeping  things,  and  of  fishes. 

34.  And  there  came  of  all  peo- 
ple to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon, from  all  kings  of  the  earth, 
which  had  heard  of  his  wisdom. 


THE    CiOLDEN    TEXT. 

"Them  that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  and  they  that  despise  me  shall 
be  lightly  esteemed. — 1  Sam.  ii. :  30. 


It  would  not  be  worth  while  to  spend  much  time  on  a  study  of 
Solomon's  wealth  and  glory,  except  for  some  lessons  his  experience 
teaches  us  about  the  use  and  abuse  of  riches,  and  the  greatest  lesson 
of  all,  that  the  chief  good  of  man  cannot  be  found  in  them.  Riches 
and  real  pleasure  are  not  hand   maidens,    nor  do   they  long  consort 


-6- 

\  together,  unless  the  riches  are  dedicated  to  God  and  pleasure  is  found 
in  Jesus  Christ. 

When  men  everywhere  are  talking  either  of  the  gold  standard,  or 
the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  1 6  to  i,  it  seems 
a  little  peculiar  that  we  should  be  studying  about  a  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world  when  silver  and  gold  were  as  plenteous  as  the  stones  on 
the  highway.  Yet,  then  as  now,  men  were  so  engrossed  with  the 
pleasures  and  cares  of  this  perishing  world,  that  many  trampled  like 
swine  the   "pearl  of  great  price"  under  their  unhallowed  feet. 

The  first  thing  Solomon  did  after  his  coronation  as  king  was  to  hold 
a  great  national  festival  at  Gibeon,  a  celebrated  mountain  or  hill,  six 
miles  north  of  Jerusalem.  Here  Solomon  made  the  first  display  of 
the  extravagant  plan  upon  which  he  proposed  to  conduct  his  opera- 
tions, for  here  it  was  he  offered  1,000  burnt  offerings.  The  tabernacle 
which  had  been  constructed  by  Moses,  some  500  years  before  in  the 
wilderness,  was  at  Gibeon,  which  gave  to  the  place  a  peculiar  sanc- 
tity. It  was  known  as  the  principal  "High  Place"  in  the  land  of 
Israel.  Solomon  displayed  great  pomp  in  his  visit  to  Gibeon,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  impress  the  people  of  the  greatness  and  grand- 
eur of  his  kingdom.  The  number  of  sacrifices  offered  by  him  at  this 
time  seem  almost  incredible,  and  yet  we  must  accept  the  record  as 
true,  for  it  is  God's  word,  and  besides  we  have  in  secular  history  simi- 
lar accounts  of  the  vast  number  of  animals  offered  in  sacrifice  to 
heathen  gods.  Heroditus  says  that  Croesus  King  of  Lydia  offered  up 
3000  of  every  kind  of  sacrificial  beasts  to  the  god  of  the  Delphic 
Oracle.      Xerxes  offered  1000  oxen  at  one  time  to  the  Trojan  Minerva. 

How  sad  it  is,  despite  Solomon's  great  wealth  and  wisdom,  and  in 
spite  of  the  great  favor  God  visited  upon  him,  that  the  end  was  like 
the  settiug  of  a  grand  luminous  sun,  when  the  day  is  dying  behind  a 
lowering  murky  cloud  hanging  in  the  western  sky.      The  text  is  : 

"And  the  Lord  was  angry  with  Solomon,  because  his  heart  was 
turned  from  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  which  appeared  unto  him  twice, 

"And  had  commanded  him  concerning  this  thing,  that  he  should 
not  go  after  other  gods;  but  he  kept  not  that  which  the  Lord  com- 
manded. 

"Wherefore  the  Lord  said  unto  Solomon,  forasmuch  as  this  is  done 
of  thee  and  thou  has  not  kept  my  covenant  and  statutes,  which  I 
have  commanded  thee,  I  will  surely  rend  the  kingdom  from  thee  and 
will  give  it  to  thy  servant." 

The  text  shows  that  God  did  so,  leaving  one  tribe  for  David's  sake. 
"Because  they  have  forsaken  me  said  the  Lord  God,  and  have  not 
walked  in  my  ways,  to  do  that  which  was  right  in  mine  eyes,  and  to 
keep  my  statutes  and  my  judgments  as  David  did.  And  unto  his 
son  will  I  give  one  tribe,  that  David  my  servant  may  have  a  light 
alway  before  me  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  I  have  chosen  to  put  my  name 
there. 


-7- 

"  And  the  time  that  Solomon  reigned  in  Jerusalem  overall  Israel 
was  40  years,  and  Solomon  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in 
the  city  of  David  his  father:  and  Rehoboam  his  son  reigned  in  his 
stead." 

Solomon  started  well.  We  can  not  make  him  out  a  remarkable 
saint  in  any  period  of  his  life,  but  it  is  clear  that  in  the  beginning  he 
loved  the  Lord,  and  that  he  walked  according  to  the  law  in  a  way 
that  reminded  one  of  his  father.  Not  that  he  was  at  any  time  a  deeply 
spiritual  man;  not  that  amid  his  luxurious  surroundings  he  betrayed  a 
hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
did  not  manifest  an  intense  longing  for  God  as  David  his  father  did 
during  the  greater  portion  of  his  life,  and  felt  more  deeply  in  his  dark- 
est hours.  There  was  not  a  speck  in  the  bright  sky  when  the  young 
king  came  to  the  throne,  all  was  quiet  and  secure  and  there  was 
abundance.  What  #e  would  have  done  if  the  way  had  not  been  so 
smooth,  it  is  useless  to  conjecture;  but  we  can  not  think  of  his  piety 
as  being  of  the  sort  that  wears  well  or  shows  to  best  advantage  on  a 
stormy  day. 

The  Lord  appeared  unto  Solomon  the  night  after  his  great  sacrifice 
at  Gibeon  and  said,  "Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee."  Think  what  a 
delightful  experience  it  must  have  been  to  Solomon.  If  God  should 
come  to  us  and  throw  wide  open  the  doors  of  his  rich  store  houses,  of 
all  the  treasures  of  heaven,  and  bid  us  take  our  choice.  My  !  my  ! 
what  an  awful  moment  it  would  be.  How  we  would  tremble  at  the 
tremendous  responsibility.  How  we  would  hesitate,  lest  we  should 
fail  to  choose  that  which  was  best  for  us.  If  Solomon  did  not  hesitate 
it  was  because  his  heart  had  been  long  set  upon  the  one  thing  which 
he  felt  he  most  needed  for  hjs  new  position.  He  had  come  to  the 
throne  of  his  father  while  a  mere  youth.  That  father  had  walked 
before  the  Lord  "in  truth  and  in  righteousness  and  in  uprighteousness 
of  heart,"  and  had  made  a  great  name  in  the  world.  The  thought  of 
taking  up  the  work  of  such  a  man  was  enough  to  overwhelm  one  of 
more  mature  years,  and  the  young  son  was  burdened  with  a  sense  of 
his  responsibility  and  unfitness.  "I  am  but  a  little  child,"  he  said,  "I 
know  not  how  to  walk  before  thy  people. "  And  losing  sight  of  all 
the  glories  of  the  world,  which  he  afterwards  too  highly  prized,  he 
begged  God  just  to  give  him  an  understanding  heart.  If  God  would 
only  make  him  equal  to  the  duties  of  his  position,  he  would  ask  no 
more. 

"And  the  speech  pleased  the  Lord,  that  Solomon  had  asked  this 
thing."  There  was  a  good  deal  of  religious  fervour  in  Solomon's 
request,  but  his  aspirations  did  not  reach  to  a  high  spiritual  plane. 
He  was  not  filled  with  such  longings  as  would  have  filled  the  heart  of 
his  father  David.  It  was  not  the  longing  of  a  soul  after  God  as  the 
hart  panteth  after  the  water  brook.  It  was  the  longing  of  one  who 
has   a  duty   to   perform   for   strength   to   perform   it.      It  was  a  wise 


-8- 

request,  because  it  reached  the  height  of  duty,  but  it  was  not  the 
wisest,  for  it  fell  far  short  of  the  height  of  '  the  privilege.  It 
pleased  God,  not  because  Solomon  had  made  the  wisest  request,  but 
because  he  had  made  such  a  wise  request,  when  a  youth;  with  his 
appreciation  of  worldly  glory,  he  might  have  asked  for  that  which 
is  infinitely  lower.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  desire  practical  wisdom, 
right  perceptions,  clear  judgment,  an  apitude  for  acquiring  and  using 
knowledge,  but  it  is  better  to  seek  "that  wisdom  which  is  from  above, 
and  cometh  down  from  the  father  of  lights  with  whom  is  no  variable- 
ness, neither  shadow  of  turning." 

And  God  gave  Solomon  wisdom  and  understanding  exceeding  much. 
His  wisdom  took  many  directions.  He  was  wise  as  a  judge,  as  an  archi- 
tect, as  a  statesman,  in  literature  and  in  science.  He  had  largeness 
of  heart,  that  is,  great  capacity,  "a  comprehensive,  powerful  mind 
capable  of  grasping  the  knowledge  of  many  and  difficult  subjects — 
poetry,  philosophy,  natural  history  in  its  various  branches.  He  was 
master  of  them  all."  As  the  sand  that  is  oh'  the  sea  shore.  The 
proverbial  expression  for  greatness  of  every  kind. 

God's  promise  to  Solomon  was  conditional.  "If  thou  wilt  walk 
before  me  as  thy  father  David  walked,  in  integrity  of  heart  and  in 
uprighteousness,  to  do  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee, 
and  will  keep  my  statutes  and  judgments,  then  will  I  establish  the 
throne  of  thy  kingdom  upon  Israel  forever  as  I  promised  David  thy 
father,  saying,  there  shall  not  fail  thee  a  man  upon  the  throne  of 
Israel.  But  if  ye  shall  at  all  turn  from  following  me  ;  ye  or  your 
children  and  will  not  keep  my  commandments  and  statutes,  which  I 
have  set  before  yim,  but  go  and  serve  other  gods  and  worship  them, 
then  will  I  cut  off  Israel  out  of  the  l»md  which  I  have  given  him," 
etc.,  etc.,  "and  Israel  shall  be  a  proverb  and  by-word  among  all 
people."  A  plainer  contract  on  God's  part  could  not  have  been  writ- 
ten, and  yet  with  all  of  Solomon's  wisdom  he  violated  it.  with  dread- 
ful consequences  to  Israel. 

For  King  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women,  of  the  nations  con- 
cerning which  the  Lord  had  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel  :  Ye  shall 
not  go  in  to  them,  neither  shall  they  come  in  unto  you:  for  surely  they 
will  turn  away  your  heart  after  their  gods.  And  he  had  700  wives 
and  300  concubines.  It  came  to  pass  when  Solomon  was  old  that  his 
wives  turned  away  his  heart  after  other  gods,  and  his  heart  was  not 
perfect  with  the  Lord  his  God  as  was  the  heart  of  David  his  father. 
And  the  Lord  was  angry  with  Solomon  because  his  heart  was  turned 
from  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  which  appeared  unto  him  twice. 

To  give  you  some  conception  of  the  magnitude  of  King  Solomon's 
household,  and  the  magnificent  scale  upon  which  the  King  conducted 
his  affairs,  the  Bible  records  that  Solomon's  provisions  for  one  day  was 
30  measures*  of  fine  flour  and  three  score  measures  of  meal,  10  fat  oxen 

*A  measure  equals  to  eight  bushels. 

'-"Solomon's  household  consumed  daily  about  50  bbls.  flour  and  500  bush.  meal. 


-9- 

and  20  oxon  out  ul  the  pastures,  and  an  hundred  sheep,  besides  harts, 
roebucks  and  fallow  deer  and  fatted  fowl,  and  it  is  estimated  that  at 
least  10,000  persons  dined  every  day  at  King  Solomon's  tables,  and  he 
had  40,000  stalls  ot    horses  and  12,000  horsemen. 

An  example  of  his  wisdom  in  dealing  with  the  difficult  eases  which 
came  before  him  as  a  judge  may  be  seen  in  Ids  decision  as  to  the 
ownership  of  the  child  claimed  by  two  persons.  An  Arabic  legend 
illustrates  Solomon's  sagacity  as  a  mere  stripling  of  thirteen.  Two 
men  came  before  David  who  was  puzzled  how  to  reconcile  their  differ- 
ences. The  plaintiff  had  bought  property  of  the  defendant,  and  while 
digging  out  the  cellar  found  a  treasure.  He  demanded  that  the  defend- 
ant should  take  the  treasure  back,  for  he  laid  bought  the  property 
without  it;  while  the  defendant  asserted  that  it  did  not  belong  to  him, 
as  he  had  sold  the  plaintiff  the  property  and  all  its  contents.  Solomon 
suggested  as  the  best  way  to  end  the  dispute  that  the  plaintiff's  son 
should  marry  the  defendant's  daughter  and  take  the  treasure  as  their 
own.  It  may  interest  you  to  hear  what  problems  the  Orientals 
conceived  to  test  the  sagacity  of  Solomon.  According  to  their 
accounts,  the  queen  of  Sheba  sent  ambassadors  with  a  letter  to  Solo- 
mon, before  she  went  herself.  With  them  she  sent  500  youths  dressed 
like  maidens,  and  the  same  number  of  maidens  dressed  like  young 
men,  with  instructions  that  they  were  to  behave  accordingly  in  the 
presence  of  Solomon.  She  also  sent  a  closed  casket  containing  an 
imperforated  pearl,  a  diamond  intricately  pierced  and  a  goblet  of  crys- 
tal. The  letter  thus  referred  to  these  things:  "As  a  true  prophet,  thou 
wilt  no  doubt  be  able  to  distinguish  the  youths  from  the  maidens;  to 
divide  the  contents  of  the  enclosed  casket;  to  perforate  the  pearl:  to 
thread  the  diamond,  and  to  fill  the  goblet  with  water  that  hath  not 
dropped  from  the  clouds,  nor  gushed  forth  from  the  earth.  '  When 
they  reached  Jerusalem  Solomon  told  them  the  .contents  of  the  letter 
before  they  presented  it,  and  made  light  of  their  mighty  problems. 
He  caused  the  slayes  to  wash  themselves,  and  from  the  manner  in  which, 
they  applied  the  water  detected  their  sex.  He  directed  a  young  and 
fiery  horse  to  be  ridden  through  the  camp  at  the  top  of  his  speed  ami 
on  its  return  caused  its  copious  prespiration  to  be  collected  in  a  goblet. 
The  pearl  he  perforated  by  a  stone  occultly  known  to  him.  The  thread- 
ing of  the  diamond  puzzled  him  for  a  moment,  but  at  length  he  inserted 
a  small  worm  which  wound  its  way  through,  leaving  a  silken  thread 
behind  it.  Having  done  this  he  dismissed  the  ambassadors  without 
accepting  their  presents.  This,  and  the  reports  her  emissaries  brought, 
determined  the  queen  to  visit  Jerusalem  in  person.  When  she  came. 
Solomon,  who  had  heard  a  piece  of  scandal  about  her, — no  less  than 
that  she  had  cloven  feet — first  of  ail  demonstrated  his  sagacity  by  the 
mode  in  which  he  tested  this  report.  He  caused  her  to  be  conducted 
over  a  crystal  floor,  below  which  was  real  water,  with  a  quantity  of  fish 
swimming  about.     Sheba,  who  had  never  seen  a  crystal  floor,  supposed 


-IO- 

there  was  water  to  be  passed  through  and  therefore  slightly  lifted  her 
robe,  enabling  the  king  to  satisfy  himself  that  she  had  a  very  neat 
foot,  not  at  all  cloven. 

So  impressed  was  the  Queen  of  Sheba  with  the  magnificence  of  Solo- 
mon's environments,  when  she  visited  him,  she  said  unto  him,  "  How- 
beit  I  believed  not  the  words  until  I  came  and  mine  eyes  had  seen  it; 
and,  behold  the  half  was  not  told  me:  thy  wisdom  and  prosperity 
exceedeth  the  fame  which  I  heard.  Happy  are  thy  men,  happy  are 
these  thy  servants,  which  stand  continually  before  thee,  and  that  hear 
thy  wisdom.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  thy  God  which  delighteth  in  thee, 
to  set  thee  on  the  throne  of  Israel:  because  the  Lord  loved  Israel  for- 
ever, therefore  made  He  thee  king,  to  do  judgment  and  justice." 

Wisdom  is  good.  It  "  excelleth  folly  as  light  excelleth  darkness. " 
Wisdom  is  the  gift  of  God,  opening  to  us  channels  of  rich  pleasure 
and  important  usefulness  to  our  fellow  creatures.  Solomon  would  not 
have  us  understand  that  for  this  world  wisdom  is  no  better  than  folly. 
He  had  found  the  contrary.  Folly  is  always  darkness.  Wisdom  is 
always  light.  Worldly  wisdom  is  light  for  this  world,  and  for  this 
world's  work  is  as  much  better  than  folly  as  walking  in  the  light  is 
better  than  grouping  in  the  dark.  But  it  is  not  a  substitute  for  piety, 
adding  to  its  power  and  usefulness  and  value.  The  better  we  are  the 
more  eagerly  we  should  seek  wisdom. 

Then,  as  now,  science  was  good.  It  helped  to  understand  God, 
when  once  God  was  known  and  loved;  but  as  a  substitute  for  God,  as 
a  way  of  salvation,  as  a  satisfaction  to  the  soul,  it  was  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit,  a  feeding  on  husks,  a  dry  and  desert  land' where  no 
water  is. 

We  learn  a  lesson  from  Solomon's  later  career.  All  his  wisdom  did 
not  keep  him  from  falling  into  sin  and  folly.  The  wisest  men  need  to 
learn  the  lesson  of  his  life.  "Fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments, 
for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man."  "  For  God  shall  bring  every  work 
into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good  or  whether 
it  be  evil." 

During  the  terrible  reign  of  the  French  revolution,  when  Madame 
Roland  came  in  sight  of  the  guillotine,  as  she  was  being  led  to  execu- 
tion she  exclaimed,  "O  liberty,  what  crimes  are  committed  in  thy 
name.''  So  are  men  mistaken  until  this  day;  they  pursue  riches  upon 
the  theory  that  wealth  means  happiness.  They  overlook  the  fact  that 
wealth  brings  responsibilities.  They  forget  that  the  word  of  God 
plainly  declares  that  he  to  whom  much  is  given,  of  him  much  shall  be 
required.  It  will  be  hard  at  the  last  great  day,  the  day  of  final 
accounts,  to  stand  before  the  Judge  of  the  Quick  and  the  Dead,  under 
the  most  favored  circumstances;  but,  think  of  it — being  called  to  judg- 
ment in  the  face  of  the  declaration,   "of  you  much  shall  be  required." 

Charles  Wesley  seems  to  me  to  have  voiced  the  situation  very  wisely 
when  he  wrote: 


"  Arm  me  with  jealous  care, 
As  in  thy  sight  to  live. 
And  of  thy  servant  Lord  prepare 
A  strict  account  to  give." 

But  you  and  I  hear  men  say,  we  are  willing  to  risk  being  rich;  lor 
the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  benefits,  we  will  risk  the  responsibilities. 
Not  knowing  that  they  would  have  to  bear  burdens  and  responsibili- 
ties now  strange  to  them.  Never  dreaming  of  how  the  yoke  would 
gall  the  neck  until  it  might  be  too  late.  When  the  city  of  Rome  was 
once  seriously  threatened  by  enemies,  and  a  garrison  lay  all  around 
it,  one  of  the  enemy  approached  a  sentinel  on  one  of  the  outposts  and 
entered  into  negotiations  with  the  maid,  looking  to  her  passing  the 
enemy  by  a  secret  way  into  Rome.  The  enemy  of  Rome  wore  on  his 
left  arm  a  beautiful  gold  bracelet,  beside  a  large  iron  shield,  as  did 
every  member  of  his  legion.  The  Tarpeian  maid  bargained  to  betray 
the  secret  pass  to  the  legion  of  the  enemy,  provided  every  soldier  of 
the  legion  would  give  her  as  they  passed  into  and  through  the  gate 
what  they  wore  upon  their  left  arm,  meaning  their  beautiful  gold 
bracelets.  The  bargain  was  struck,  and  the  legion  as  they  passed  the 
"guards,  misunderstanding  the  terms  unloosed  not  only  their  golden 
bracelets,  but  unclasped  their  heavy  iron  shields  and  dumped  these 
upon  the  maiden,  and  soon  she  was  a  shapeless  mangled  corpse 
beneath  the  heavy  weight  of  a  mountain  of  iron  shields.  So  would 
legions  of  we  poor  mortals  find  ourselves  if  we  only  received  a  tithe 
of  the  things  we  crave.  God  in  his  wisdom  always  gives  us  what  he 
deems  safest  and  wisest  for  us  to  have.  If  left  to  ourselves,  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  times  in  life  we  would  have  it  different,  and,  we 
too,  like  the  Tarpeian  maid,  might  get  what  was  greatly  to  our  damage 
and  what  might  cost  us  an  eternity  of  misery  and  woe.  Take,  my 
dear  friends,   just  as  God  gives  us,  and  say,   "Thy  will  be  done." 

Do  you  recall  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  mentions  with  approval 
but  one  donation  during  his  ministerial  career?  Doubtless  there  were 
many  rich  people  in  attendance  upon  divine  service  that  Sabbath  day. 
for  we  know  great  crowds  gathered  whithersoever  he  went,  and  that 
day  there  were  doubtless  those  in  attendance  who  were  clothed  in  pur- 
ple and  fine  linen.  Heads  covered  with  elegant  bonnets,  and  beautiful 
gloved  hands  waving  costly  feather  fans,  ribbons  and  the  perfume  of 
the  white  rose  or  the  night  blooming  cereus,  argued  plainly  that  the 
audience  was  a  cultured  and  refined  one,  may  be,  but  Jesus  Christ 
only  mentions  the  poor  widow's  mite.  Think  of  it,  suppose  she  had 
said,  "Oh  well,  I  have  only  a  mite,  the  part  of  a  cent.  It  will  not 
amount  to  anything  and  I  am  so  little  accounted  in  so  great  an  assem- 
blage that  I  will  just  remain  quiet  here  in  my  seat."  Then  this  beau- 
tiful example  of  Christian  charity,  with  its  unbounded  and  untold 
influence,  would  have  been  lost  upon  a  Christian  world:  whereas  it 
has  lived  to  teach  us  that  we  must  not  despise  the  day  of  small  things, 


and  that  it  is  not  a  big  bank  account  that  counts  with  the  Lord. 
Does  not  the  Psalmist  say,  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness 
thereof,  the  world  and  they  that  dwell  therein."  If  this  be  so,  and  it 
is  so,  why  should  God  stop  to  consider  us  on  account  of  what  we 
possess. 

You  will  recall  that  when  Abraham  had  as  yet  no  offspring  and  was 
well  stricken  in  years  God  promised  him  that  his  seed  should  be  as 
the  sands  that  covered  the  sea  shore;  so  here  in  the  20th  verse  of  this 
chapter  we  read  "Judah  and  Israel  were  as  the  sand  which  is  by  the 
sea,  in  multitude,"  a  literal  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  made  to  Abra- 
ham, more  than  a  thousand  years  ago,  for  all  these  we  read  about 
here  were  the  seed  of  Abraham.  And  another  fulfillment  of  a  promise 
made  tc  Moses  do  we  find  in  this  lesson.  In  verse  25  we  read,  -'And 
Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely  even'  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his 
fig  tree  from  Dan  even  to  Beersheba. "'  You  recall  that  when  Moses 
came  to  die,  and  was  buried  by  God's  own  hand,  God  carried  him 
•into  the  mountain  of  Nebo.  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  that  is  over  against 
Jericho,"  and  he  showed  him  Canaan  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  said 
unto  Moses,  all  this  land  will  I  give  to  the  children  of  Israel.  He  may 
be  trusted  to  do  and  perform  in  his  own  good  time  all  that  He 
promises. 

Judah  and  Israel  had  been  rent  and  torn  by  war,  so  much  so,  that 
God  would  not  permit  David,  "a  man  after  his  own  heart,"  to  build 
Him  a  house;  but  now  we  find  that  the  whole  land  from  "Dan  to 
Beersheba  "  was  in  a  state  of  absolute  quiet,  so  much  so  that  every  man 
rested  under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree.  Just  the  very  suggestion  of 
the  vine  and  fig  tree  denotes  rest  and  quiet.  For  where  the  bloody 
hoof  of  war  stamps,  vines  and  fig  trees  are  unknown.  We  often  "hear 
in  the  prayer  of  thanks,  acknowledgment  of  the  privilege  of  living, 
wdrere  »'c  are  permitted  to  worship  God  under  our  own  vine  and  fig- 
tree  where  none  dare  molest  or  make  afraid.  Typical  of  the  rest  that 
remaineth  to  the  people  of  God. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  riches  in  this  world.  Riches  that  come  from 
selfishness,  from  corruption,  from  over-reaching,  frcm  miserly  hoard- 
ing, are  always  evil  and  that  continually. 

There  is  another  kind  of  abundance  which  is  the  natural  result  of 
honesty,  industry  skill,  inventions  faithfulness,  and  these  naturally 
are  a  blessing  to  all.  They  help  the  poor;  they  spread  advantages 
on  every  side,  no  one  is  the  poorer  for  this  wealth.  There  is  vastly 
less  poverty  and  suffering  under  such  a  regime   than  under  any  other. 

The  promise  of  increasing  abundance  is  one  of  the  motives  that 
help  keep  men  from  idleness,  and  that  show  all,  by  a  visible  object 
lesson,  that  industry,  faithfulness  and  morality  are  favored  by  God 
and  by  nature.  These  motives  are  necessarv  to  keep  the  average  man 
from  the  curse  of  idleness  and  to  assist  the  virtue  of  those  who  have 
the  desire  to  do  right.  For  "Idleness  is  the  mother  of  all  vices.  " 
"Idle  men  are  the  devil's  playmates. " 

i 


-13- 

"  Saboath  gave  himself  up  to  idleness.  Ililliel  was  grieved,  and 
resolved  to  cure  him  of  his  fault.  He  took  him  to  the  Valley  oi  Ilin- 
nom  by  Jerusalem,  where  was  a  standing  pool,  full  of  snakes  and 
vermin,  and  covered  with  muddy  weeds.  '  Mere,'  said  Hilliel,  'let  r.s 
rest.'  'Not  here,'  said  the  youth.  'Dost  thou  not  perceive  what 
poisonous  vapors  it  exhales?'  'Thou  art  right  my  son;  this  bog  is 
like  the  soul  of  a  slothful  man.'  Hilliel  then  took  the  youth  to  a 
waste  field,  producing  thorns  and  thistles.  'This,'  said  he  has  good 
soil  to  produce  all  that  is  good  and  pleasant,  but  it  is  neglected.  A 
little  while  ago  thou  didst  see  the  soul,  now  behold  the  life  of  an 
idle  man. " 

That  wealth  is  best  which  is  most  generally  diffused  through*  ut  the 
community.  The  wealth  that  builds  railroads  and  houses,  libraries, 
churches,  schools,  factories,  gives  great  advantages  of  work,  of  cheap 
(ravel  and  books,  I  earthier  living  and  comforts  to  all.  It  is  this  kind 
of  wealth,  the  wealth  of  the  community,  not  enormous  private  fort- 
unes, which  is  the  promise  of  the  gospel.  The  mere  accumulation  of 
wealth  upon  wealth,  with  its  burdens  of  care  and  temptation,  does  not 
add  to  the  blessings  of  a  competency.  Agur's  prayer  (Prov.  xxx. :  8-9) 
"Remove  far  from  me  vanity  and  lies;  give  me  neither  poverty 
nor  riches;  feed  me  with  food  convenient  for  me:  lest  I  he  full, 
and  deny  thee,  and  say,  Who  is  the  Lord?  or  lest  I  be  poor,  and 
steal,  and  take  the  name  of  my  God  in  vain,"  expresses  the  best 
that  possessions  can  do  for  us.  Poverty  is  not  a  blessing  in  itself, 
nor  is  immense  wealth.  (Prov.  xv:  16-17:  17:  1)  "Better  is  a  dinner 
of  herbs  where  love  is,  than  a  stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith.'' 
"  Better  is  little  with  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  than  great  treasure  and 
trouble  therewith  "  "Better  is  a  dry  morsel,  and  quietness  therewith, 
than  a  house  full  of  sacrifices  with  strife."  "No  more  desire  riches," 
says  Erasmus,  "  than  a  feeble  beast  desires  a  heavy  burden  "  "I  feel 
like  a  galley  slave,  and  worn  out  with  care,"  wrote  one  of  the  most 
successful  of  modern  millionaries.  "Happy  would  that  society  be, 
in  which  all  men  are  aiming,  not  at  riches,  but  merely  at  a  modest 
competency,  dreading  the  one  extreme  as  much  as  the  other. "  It  is 
said  of  Agassiz  that  he  excused  himself  from  engaging  in  a  profitable 
lecturing  tour  on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  the  time  to  make  money. 
A  certain  amount  of  wealth  is  necessary  for  the  largest  giving,  the 
greatest  help  to  others,  many  useful  enterprises,  the  largest  culture. 
Hence  it  is  the  tendency  of  piety  and  the  wisdom  of  God  to  increase, 
not  always,  nor  ever  intensely,  the  wealth  of  individuals,  but  always 
the  general  wealth  of  the  community. 

When  large  wealth  congests  in  the  hands  of  a  few  in  any  community,       / 
it  is  bad  for  that  community.     It  is  not  only  bad,  it  is  a  calamity.  Qdr    "7^ 
Depew,  said   in    a  speech  in   New  York,  that  fifty  men  could  combine    fu<6k 
and  lock  up  all  the  money  in  the  United  States,  so  great  would  be  their     -fc  ^ 
combined  wealth)     Wadsworth  truthfully  and  beautifully  says:  *A< 


-14- 

"111  fares  the  land,  to  hastenig'  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay." 

as  Henry  Ward  Beecher  once  said:  "Snow  on  a  level  is  much  more 
valuable  than  great  drifts  alternating  with  bare  ground."  We  are  never 
to  seek  riches,  but  wtsHo^u^ Riches  sought  as  the  chief  end  are  always 
a  curse.  Riches~'as  the"  gilt  of  those  who  first  seek  the  kingdom  of 
God  are  a  blessing.  But  there  are  riches  of  mind,  of  heart,  of  useful- 
ness, of  love,  that  are  infinitely  more  blessed  than  riches  in  silver 
and  gold. 

Wealth  can  safely  increase  in  a  community  only  as  fast  as  religion 
and  morality  prevail:  then,  it  is  a  great  opportunity;  a  means  of 
advancing  God's  kingdom.  Riches,  like  fire,  are  "a  good  servant,  but 
a  bad  master." 

There  is  great  danger  in  riches:  so  great,  that  "it  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God."  Riches  tend  to  luxury,  selfishness  and 
idleness;  because  of  the  tendency  to  trust  in  riches,  and  not  to  feel 
the  need  of  a  Saviour;  because  riches  are  apt  to  engender  pride  that 
will  not  stoop  to  the  humble  service  of  God:  because  rich  men  are 
apt  to  be  allied  in  business  that  is  questionable  in  character,  or 
socially,  with  many  who  are  not  Christians,  and  it  requires  courage 
and  faith  not  to  yield  to  unchristian  customs;  because,  in  some  cases 
on  account  of  the  large  sums  of  money  ihey  can  control,  they  are  led 
to  enter  into  ccmbinations  to  crush  the  weak,  or  to  stifle  competition, 
or  in  other  ways  defy  the  law  of  good  morals,  simply  because  wealth 
gives  them  the  power,  and  not  because  it  is  right,  or  that  God  approves. 

Riches  can  never  satisfy  the  soul.  Wealth  without  wisdom  is  like  a 
child  playing  with  the  fire. 

Solomon  tried  all  that  the  world  could  give  under  the  most  fav- 
orable circumstances,  yet  found  all  to  be  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 
Byron  with  rank,  and  wealth,  and  all  manner  of  pleasuse,  failed  of 
content  and  happiness  Alexander  conquered  the  world,  but  it  did  not 
satisfy  the  sou';  and  if  he  could  have  conquered  all  the  worlds  that 
stud  the  heavens  he  would  still  have  wept  for  more.  For  God  has 
not  created  a  single  human  soul  so  small  and  poor  that  all  the  mate- 
rial universe  can  fill  it.  All  literature  is  full  of  expressions  of  the  failure 
of  worldly  things  to  satisfy  the  soul. 

Seeking  satisfaction  in  this  world  is  like  trying  to  -quench  the  thirst 
by  drinking  the  salt  waters  of  the  sea.  The  more  we  drink  the  more 
thirsty  we  become. 

There  is  a  Russian  story  of  one  whc  entered  a  diamond  mine  in 
search  of  great  riches.  He  filled  his  pockets  with  great  gems,  and 
then  threw  them  away  to  make  room  for  larger  ones.  At  length  he 
became  very  thirsty,  but  there  was  no  water.  He  heard  the  flow 
of  rivers,  but  they  were  rivers  of  gems;  and  he  hastened  forward  at 
the  sound  of  a  water-fall,  but  it  was  a  cascade  of  jewels.      He  was 


very  rich  in  precious  stones,  but  he  was  dying  of  thirst,  and  his  riches 

were  worse  than  useless. 

We  are  reminded  of  the  luckless  king  of  Persia,  who,  when  the 
Moslems  overran  his  empire,  and  made  him  prisoner,  was  left  to  starve 
in  his  own  treasury.  All  around  that  Persian  monarch  were  heaped 
diamonds,  and  emeralds,  and  topazes,  and  pearls  of  inestimable  value. 
Wherever  he  turned  he  saw  nothing  except  gold,  and  silver,  and  pre- 
cious stones;  but  with  the  wealth  of  Ormuz  and  the  East  about  him, 
the  wretched  man  perished  of  hunger  and  thirst,  Such  are  they  who 
seek  wealth  without  wisdom.  But  the  riches  that  How  from  wisdom 
are  rather  like  those  which  tiddartha  scattered  among  the  people, 
building  libraries,  and  hospitals,  and  schools,  and  giving  work  to 
many.  The  power  of  doing  good,  of  enjoying  and  helping  others  to 
enjoy,  is  the  test  of  true  riches. 

Vet  true  riches  are  the  fruit  of  the  gospel;  a  type  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  golden  age,  the  millennial 
days,  the  New  Jerusalem,  are  all  rep.esented  as  abounding  in  pros- 
perity and  every  worldly  good.  For  all,  not  a  few,  and  as  an  illus- 
tration and  proof  of  Ifigher  and  nobler  riches  is  the 

ILLUSTRATED    GOLDEX    TEXT. 

"Them  that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  and  they  that  despise  me  shall 
be  lightly  esteemed." 

Tommy  was  in  a  hard  place.  Errand  boy  in  a  large  shop,  it  would 
be  hard  to  find  one  more  willing  and  faithful.  He  had  been  in  the 
shop  a  week,  and  in  that  time  had  been  sent  on  all  sorts  of  errands. 
Yet,  never  till  this  morning  had  there  been  an  errand  he  was  unwilling 
to  perform. 

One  thing  had  become  evident  to  Tommy.  The  men  drank  far  mere 
than  was  good  for  them.  And  now,  he  found  himself  with  money  in 
his  hand,  sent  to  order  the  very  beer  that  was  working  such  ruin.  From 
force  of  habit,  he  seized  his  hat  and  started,  when  the  bidding- came. 
He  was  out  of  the  door  before  he  fairly  realized  what  he  had  been 
sent  to  get 

Tommy  was  a  member  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  pledged  to  never  use 
liquor  himself,  nor  help  others  to  use  it.  In  fact,  his  pledge  obligated 
him  to  prevent  in  all  honorable  ways  the  use  of  it  by  others.  How 
could  he  go  for  and  put  it  into  the  hands  of  these  tempted  men  ? 

The  other  side  of  this  dilemma  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  was  a  poor 
boy,  and  that  this  position  was  the  first  he  had  found  after  months  of 
painful  and  anxious  search.  Along  with  the  voice  of  conscience  that 
showed  him  the  wrong  in  going  for  the  beer,  was  the  voice  of  self  inter- 
est. This  reminded  him,  that  by  refusing  to  go  at  the  bid  Jim*  of  the 
men,  he  would  have  to  take  curses  and  cuflings  and  lose  his  place. 
Conscience  whispered  that  a  pledge  was  a  solemn  promise,  no  matter 
whether  the  keeping  of  it  was  easy  or  hard.       The  other  whispered  of 


-i6- 

the  coming-  trouble.      Fairly  bewildered,  poor  Tommy  said  to  himself: 
"Oh,  dear,  what  shall  I  do"? 

On  the  night  before  he  had  learned  his  daily  Bible  verse.  It  came 
to  him  now  to  strengthen  and  help.  This  was  the  text  :  "Then  they 
cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  he  saved  them  out  of  their 
distresses.'"  Tommy  lifted  his  heart  in  a  plea  for  help.  The  answer 
was  swift.  He  turned  and  went  into  the  shop  and  gave  back  the 
money  to  the  man  who  had  sent  him. 

What  a  Babel  arose  !  When  Tommy  could  get  a  chance  he  said, 
quietly  but  firmly  : 

"  1  shall  be  glad  to  do  any  other  errand  sir,  but  being  a  Loyal 
Legion er,  of  course  I  couldn't  do  that." 

Curses  filled  the  air  for  a  minute;  then  a  man  spoke  up  and  said:  "  I 
like  the  lad's  pluck.      Let  him  alone." 

lust  then  the  boss  came  in.  He  was  a  drinking  man,  and  Tommy 
had  not  looked  for  support  from  him;  for  had  he  not  said  that  Tommy 
was  to  run  their  errands? 

He  looked  at  the  trembling  lad  for  a  moment,  then  said:  "If  that  is 
your  stamp  my  boy,  I  guess  you'll  do  for  up  stairs.  You  may  take  off 
your  apron  and  report  up  there." 

Up  stairs  was  a  more  pleasant  room  with  better  men,  and  the  wages 
was  a  dollar  a  week  more.  As  Tommy  marched  above  he  repeated  to 
himself  a  text  he  had  only  learned  the  week  before:  "Them  that 
honor  me.  I  will  honor."  "It  pays  to  do  right,''  he  said,  "audi 
guess  I  will  stick  to  it  as  long  as  I  live 

Israel  dwelt  safely.  Christ's  promise  to  the  seventy  was:  "Nothing 
shall  by  any  means  hint  you."  It  is  God's  promise  still  to  those  who 
in  these  days  go  out  as  witnesses  in  the  power  of  the  spirit,  as  the 
seventy  did,  carrying  neither  purse  nor  scrip. 

A  missionary  sat  in  his  study  when  a  mob  surrounded  the  house 
and  threatened  to  burn  the  premises  if  he  did  not  come  out  to  them. 
They  meant  to  murder  him.  Calmly  he  rose  and  went  and  stood  in 
the  doorway.  The  crowd  parted  in  absolute  silence  and  let  him  pass 
out  unharmed.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  him  was  greater  than  the  evil 
spirit  in  the  world.      God's  promise  of  protection  was  proved. 

Every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree.  The  inward  peace 
of  God,  without  which  we  cannot  have  the  outward  peace  with  men, 
is  God's  gift. 

The  precepts  of  peace  are:  "As  much  as  it  lieth  in  you,  live  peace- 
ably with  all  men.''  "Study  to  be  quiet,  and  do  your  own  business.'' 
"Be  subject  to  one  another  and  be  clothed  with  humility."  "Over- 
come evil  with  good,"  and  you  will  find  that  even  in  tribulation  you 
have  the  peace  of  God,  and  like  Him,  have  only  "thoughts  of  peace'' 
toward  those  who  are  at  war  with  you.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a 
school  in  Rochester  for  boys  of  the  Friends  Society  and  one  for  another 
denomination  in  the  same  town.     I  will  call  these  Town  Boys  and  the 


-17- 

others  Friend  Boys.  Whenever  any  of  the  Town  boys  saw  any  of  the 
Friend  boys  they  shouted  after  them  "Quaker!  Quaker!  "  and  other 
names.  This  was  mortifying-  to  the  Friend  hoys,  but  they  passed  on 
and  reviled  not  again.  Things  continued  in  this  state  until  one  day  the 
Friend  boys  were  taken  out  for  a  walk  in  the  country,  and  when  about 
to  ascend  a  high  hill,  they  observed  some  of  the  Town  boys  near 
where  they  had  to  pass  and  they  said:  "Now  we  shall  catch  it." 
They  did  and  smartly.  As  soon  as  the  Town  boys  espied  them  they 
shouted:  "Quaker!  Quaker!"  so  long  as  they  could  be  heard.  When 
the  Friend  boys  reached  the  top  of  the  hill,  seeing  their  enemies  below 
them,  they  deemed  it  time  to  retaliate,  and  sent  down  a  few  missiles 
into  the  enemies'  camp.  This  unexpected  salute  startled  the  Town  boys, 
who  exclaimed:  "Why,  these  Quaker  boys  are  pelting  us  with  stones.  " 
In  their  haste  they  vowed  revenge.  Immediately  a  volley  of  the  same 
ammunition  came  pouring  down  upon  them.  To  their  great  surprise 
they  found  that  they  had  been  attacked  not  with  stones  at  all.  but 
with  apples,  which  the  Friend  boys  had  brought  in  their  picnic  baskets 
for  another  purpose.  Now,  as  all  boys  love  apples,  they  gathered  up 
these  peaceable  missiles  and  began  to  eat.  One  of  the  boys  observed 
how  remarkable  it  was  that  the  boys  who  had  received  nothing  but 
ill-usage  without  a  word  of  complaint,  had  now  given  them  a  quantity 
of  apples;  this  to  them  was  marvelous  treatment.  They  began  to  see 
the  evil  of  their  conduct  and  to  accuse  each  other  of  beginning  the 
attack.  None  were  willing  to  be  regareled  as  ring  leaders,  but  all 
agreed  that  a  very  different  treatment  was  due  such  kind  boys  and 
they  determined  to  practice  it. 

Solomon  had  40,000  stalls  of  horses.  The  promise  to  the  righteous 
man  is:  "Whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper.''  Writing  concerning 
money.  Paul  says:  "And  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward 
you,  that  ye  always  having  all  sufficiency  in  all  things  may  abound 
to  every  good  work."  Lack  of  real  prosperity  springs  from  lack  of 
faith.  A  gentleman  sitting  with  guests  one  day  at  his  dinner  table 
said  to  his  wife:  "Let  us  try  an  experiment."  Then  'he  called  to  his 
dog,  "Peter,  come  here."  Slowly  the  animal  obeyed.  Then  the 
master  to  his  wife's  astonishment  took  the  platter  containing  the  leg 
of  roast  mutton  and  put  it  on  the  floor  in  front  of  Peter.  The  dog 
looked  first  at  the  meat  and  then  at  his  master.  Then  he  walked 
around  the  platter  and  looked  up  into  the  faces  of  the  guests.  What 
did  it  mean?     Scraps  and  leavings  were  all  he  had  a  right  to  expect. 

Finally  he  gave  one  longing  look  at  the  meat,  dropped  his  tail 
between  his  legs  and  disconsolately  sneaked  out  of  the  room  and 
missed  the  generous  slice  that  surely  would  have  been  given  him  had 
he  dared  to  believe  his  master.  "There,"  saiei  Mr.  Harris,  "  Peter  is 
just  as  inconsistent  as  most  Christians."  Yea,  verily  when  our  Father 
drops  down  before  us  some  exceeding  great  and  precious  promise 
(II  Peter  i. :  4)  such  as:    "I  wish  above  all  things  that  thou   mayest 


-i8- 

prosper  and  be  in  health  even  as  thy  soul  prospers."  We  read  it, 
look  at  each  other,  discuss  it  a  little  and  doubt  and  go  on  disconso- 
lately and  are  satisfied  with  the  crumbs  when  we  might  feast  on  the 
"all  things"''   of  the  king's  table. 

In  a  letter  received  from  a  Chicago  clergyman  we  see  how  minister- 
ial prosperity  can  come  to  one  who  believes  God.  He  writes:  "For 
two  years  and  six  months  I  have  lived  in  Canaan,  sweet  Canaan.  No 
language  on  earth  can  describe  the  great  difference  in  my  life.  When 
my  carnal  life  was  purged  away  I  lost  its  fruits  unto  death,  and  then 
Christ  came  in  with  His  fruits  unto  life.  About  sixty  of  my  best  peo- 
ple, including  all  of  my  class  leaders  but  one,  and  my  choirister  and 
leading  soprano  in  the  choir,  and  the  lady  that  plays  my  pipe  organ, 
and  almost  every  member  of  my  official  board  have  stepped  fully  into 
Jesus  in  the  past  year  and  eight  months.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  working 
gloriously.  He  has  solved  for  us  the  financial  problem,  the  entertain- 
ment problem,  and  -how  to  reach  the  masses'  problem.  Glory  to  Jesus  I  " 
"They  lacked  nothing." 

A  minister  wrote:  "In  September,  1885,  I  felt  called  of  God  to 
preach  the  gospel.  I  felt  Pie  would  have  me  go  '  without  purse  or 
scrip,'  and  trust  him.  I  obeyed,  and  started  out  with  three-half-pence. 
From  that  day  to  this,  eleven  years,  He  has  supplied  the  needs  of 
myself  and  wife  during  wanderings  over  sea  and  land. 

"One  night  my  wife  wished  for  two  things.  We  reckoned  up  their 
cost.  It  amounted  to  5  pounds.  We  asked  the  Lord  to  send  the 
money.  At  noon,  the  next  day,  the  letter-carrier  handed  us  a  letter 
containing  5  pounds.  There  was  nothing  to  show  from  whom  or 
from  whence  it  came.  We  thanked  God  for  the  supply  of  the  need. 
Months  after  we  found  that  an  old  English  lady  had  it  mailed  to 
us  anonymously.  That  is  the  only  time  in  eleven  years  we  have 
needed  exactly  that  sum,  and  the  only  time  that  exactly  that  amount 
came. 

"The  day  came  some  time  after  when  we  put  the  last  coal  in  the 
stove  and  ate  the  last  bit  of  food  in  the  house.  As  I  was  at  work  a 
letter  was  brought  me  from  one  with  whom  we  were  not  acquainted, 
but  who  had  heard  some  one  speak  of  us.  There  was  a  draft  enclosed 
for  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  cover  every  need  and  carry  us  to 
Ireland,  where  we  met  the  brother  who  sent  us  the  money,  and  a  little 
band  of  God's  children. 

"During  my  first  visit  to  the  United  States  I  felt  led  to  go  to  Ohio. 
I  did  not  know  how  to  get  there,  but  the  Lord  knew.  Not  having  the 
money,  I  asked  him  for  it.  My  wdfe,  who  had  remained  at  home,  sent 
me  $5.  Other  sums  were  added  to  it  until  I  had  $14.05.  The  morn- 
ing I  left,  there  came  to  me  from  three  sources  $4.75,  making  in  all 
$18.80.      It  cost  me  just  that  sum  to  reach  my  destination. 

"When  I  felt  led  to  return  to  London  I  needed  at  least  $75.  The 
Lord  led  so  clearly  about  it  I  said  I  would  get  ready  and  ask  him  to 


-19- 

supply  the  money.      On  my  way  to  the  postoffice  I  met  a  friend,  who 

said:    'Does  the  Lord  lead   you  to  return  to    London?'      'Why  do    you 
ask?'     'Because,  he  so  strongly  impresses  me  to  pay  your  fare.' 

"For  five  years  we  kept  an  account  of  all  the  money  the  Lord  sent 
us,  and  found  the  average  per  week  amounted  to  what  we  had  received 
when  I  was  in  business. 

"There  have  been  many  tests  of  faith,  hut  for  eleven  years,  and 
without  salary,  God  has  supplied  every  need  as  promised." 

"  God  gave  Solomon  wisdom  and  understanding  exceeding  much." 
Christ  Jesus  is  made  unto  us  wisdom.  His  name  is  counsellor.  When 
Jesus  went  Lie  sent  the  Holy  Spirit  to  teach  us  all  things.  And  you 
who  have  trusted  His  wisdom  in  the  work  and  in  the  home  can  say: 
"Who  teacheth  like  Him." 

A  widowed  mother  found  her  children  budding  into  manhood  and 
womanhood  surrounded  by  every  form  of  worldliness.  She  saw  her 
utter  inability  to  keep  them  from  drifting  with  the  tide.  She  asked  for 
wisdom,  and  recognized  Him  as  within  to  work  in  her,  to  will  and  to 
do  of  His  good  pleasure,  concerning  her  children.  They  came  from 
school  one  day  asserting  there  was  to  be  a  meeting  at  the  home  that 
evening  to  organize  a  "Euchre  Club."  The  mother  neither  scolded, 
rebuked  or  refused  to  allow  it.  She  met  the  guests  cordially  and  sat 
with  them  and  listened  while  they  talked  over  all  the  plans  for  the 
organization.  Once  when  they  appealed  to  her  to  know  about  meet- 
ing at  the  different  houses,  she  said:  "I  hardly  know  how  you  would 
manage  were  you  to  meet  here.  You  know  we  have  always  kept  our 
home  clean."  "Oh,  they  answered,  we  would  not  play  cards:  we 
would  play  something  else  here."  "I  thought  so,"  she  said  sweetly. 
Week  after  week  they  met.  had  a  good  time  and  talked  about  the  club, 
while  the  mother  sat  in  the  midst  quietly  praying  to  God  for  them.  The 
organization  was  never  completed,  and  not  a  pack  of  cards  was  bought 
nor  a  game  played.  Soon  after  a  daughter  came  home  with  a  ticket  for 
the  theatre.  "I  am  going  Friday,  mother,"  she  said;  "It  is  Grade's 
birthday,  and  her  father  has  given  her  a  box,  and  I  am  to  be  with  her." 
A  look  of  pain  swept  over  her  mother's  face  for  an  instant,  but  she  did 
not  argue  nor  remonstrate,  and  so  run  the  risk  of  her  child  telling  her 
she  had  forgotten,  when  she  was  young,  and  had  no  sympathy  with 
youthful  hearts.  She  slipped  away  to  her  closet,  and  down  on  her 
knees  committed  the  child  to  God,  and  believed  Him.  Friday,  the 
daughter  ran  to  her  with  the  ticket  in  her  hand  and  said:  "  I  am  going 
to  give  it  to  Susie:  I  would  not  be  bothered  going;  to  a  theatre."  This 
was  the  end.      The  children  were  saved  to  Christ  and  the  church. 

"  Largeness  of  heart."  Paul,  writing  to  Corinth,  savs:  "Our  heart 
is  enlarged;  be  ye  also  enlarged."  An  enlarged  heart  means  passionate 
love,  and  this  is  proved  by  obedience.  Without  love,  wealth  and  wis- 
dom and  understanding  are  nothing.  Great  light  without  great  love  is 
dangerous.      Knowledge  puffs  up,  love  builds  up.      Let  us  enlarge  the 


place  of  our  tent,  and  ask  God  to  enlarge  our  coast;  that,  filled  with 
His  passionate  love  for  lost  souls  we  may  be  used  for  His  glory. 

"His  fame  was  in  all  nations  round  about."  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Christians  at  Rome:  "Your  faith  is  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole 
world."  Christ's  promise:  "Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  come  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth,"  may  be  fulfilled  to  one  who  never  steps  his  foot 
upon  a  foreign  country.  Holy  life  has  a  Jar  reaching  power.  Many 
years  ago,  when  Moody  was  in  England,  the  papers  told  how  he  was 
offered  $8,000  by  a  photographer  if  he  would  sit  for  his  picture,  but 
refused  the  money.  The  American  papers  reported  the  incident.  A 
wife  read  the  account  to  her  unconverted  husband.  "There,"  he  said, 
1 '  that  is  the  kind  of  a  Christian  I  would  be. "  ' '  Why  don't  you  begin  ?  " 
she  asked.  "Wife,  you  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about.  It 
would  cost  me  every  dollar  I  have  to  be  a  Christian.  I  should  pay 
back  every  cent  I  have  obtained  dishonestly."  "  Oh  no,"  she  answered, 
"you  would  not  need  to  do  that."  "Bah,"  he  said,  that  is  the  kind  of 
religion  you  have.  I  would  be  ashamed  to  be  such  a  Christian.  If  ever 
Moody  comes  any  where  near  here,  I  am  going  to  hear  him."  Years 
afterwards  the  evangelist  was  holding  meetings  in  an  adjacent  town, 
and  the  man  who  had  so  admired  his  uprighteousness  went  to  hear 
him.  He  came  home  a  miserably  convicted  sinner  who  had  not 
yielded,  but  one  Sunday  morning  he  astonished  the  congregation  in 
the  church,  of  which  his  wife  was  a  member,  by  striding  up  the  mid- 
dle aisle,  jumping  over  the  rail  into  the  altar,  declaring  his  decis- 
ion to  become  a  Christian,  and  announcing  that  he  had  defrauded 
many  of  the  people  and  would  make  good  to  them  every  cent  if  they 
would  come  to  him.  It  cost  him  many  thousands  of  dollars,  but  he 
was  true.      He  was  greatly  used  for  the  salvation  of  others. 

Those  who  have  only  the  worldly  wealth  and  wisdom  use  them  for 
self.  The  more  money  they  obtain  the  more  selfish  they  become,  and 
the  greater  harm  it  does  them;  this  is  likewise  true  of  their  wisdom. 
The  Bible  says  that  some  are  to  do  evil.  A  little  boy  had  been 
amusing  himself  putting  his  hand  into  a  hole  in  some  wood-work, 
where,  to  his  surprise  and  delight,  he  felt  a  piece  of  money  which  his 
father  had  put  there  to  teach  him  a  lesson.  It  was  a  large  coin,  and 
when  he  closed  his  hand  upon  it  and  attempted  to  withdraw  it,  he  was 
unable  to  do  so.  His  father  saw  him,  and  asked  him  why  he  could  not 
get  his  hand  out  of  the  hole.  He  said:  "Oh,  father,  I  have  some 
money  in  it  and  cannot  get  it  out."  His  father  told  him  to  open  his 
hand,  let  the  money  fall,  and  then  to  draw  out  his  hand.  He  followed 
the  father's  directions  and  withdrew  his  hand  with  ease.  While  he 
held  on  to  the  money  it  held  him  prisoner.  Often  money  selfishly 
kept,  make  slaves  of  those  who  have  it.  Like  the  boy,  they  cling  to 
it,  for  they  think  only  of  self,  and  as  a  result  they  are  made  unhappy 
prisoners  of  selfishness.  Such  are  the  worldly  wise  and  worldly 
wealthy. 


Those  who  are  heavenly  wise  and  heavenly  wealthy  use  their  money 
for  the  Saviour.  Whether  one's  money  be  little  or  much,  if  it  be  used 
for  Him,  He  is  able  to  bless  it,  that  it  will  accomplish  much  good  and 
enrich  with  divine  blessing;  the  generous  heart  that  gave  it.  At  the 
same  time  he  multiplies  the  wealth  of  the  giver. 

Jamie  was  the  brightest  boy  in  his  class.  He  was  a  Christian  and 
was  all  the  better  liked  for  that.  Willie  was  also  a  bright  boy,  and 
was  considered  a  real  good  fellow,  too.  They  used  to  run  neck  and 
neck  for  the  prizes.  One  examination  day  the  school  were  all  sur- 
prised to  hear  Willie  answer  question  after  question  while  Jamie 
remained  silent;  and  Willie  took  the  prize.  When  they  were  going 
home  Jamie  seemed  glad  for  Willie,  and  the  other  boys  could  not 
understand  it.  One  of  them  said:  "Why  Jamie,  you  could  have 
answered  some  of  those  questions;  I  know  you  could."  "Of  course 
I  could,"  he  said,  with  a  light  laugh.  "Then,  why  didn't  you?"  He 
would  not  answer  for  a  while,  but,  being  pressed,  he  turned  around 
with  a  strange  look  in  his  eyes,  said  to  his  questioner:  "Look  here, 
how  could  I  help  it?  There's  poor  Willie;  his  mother  died  last  week, 
and  if  it  hadn't  been  examination  day  he  would  not  have  been  at 
school.  Do  you  think  I  was  going  to  be  so  mean  as  to  take  a  prize 
from  a  poor  fellow  who  had  just  lost  his  mother?  "  Was  it  not  noble? 
Was  it  not  Christdike  ?  Jamie  was  willing  to  "make  himself  of  no 
reputation"  if  only  Willie  could  be  comforted  a  bit.  That  was  heavenly 
wealth  and  wisdom,  not  kept  for  self  but  given  to  the  Saviour. 

Worldly  wealth  and  wisdom  are  used  for  one's  own  pleasure,  while 
heavenly  wealth  and  wisdom  are  used  to  serve  others.  Worldly  wealth 
and  wisdom,  when  used  only  to  give  the  owner  pleasure,  are  found  to 
fail  to  give  real  peace  and  satisfaction  and  soon  vanish  like  the  dew. 
But  when  they  are  employed  to  serve  others,  they  store  up  treasures 
in  heaven,  and  are  admired  and  copied  by  others.  Some  Christian 
girls  in  Japan  were  discussing  how  they  could  glorify  Christ  by  their 
lives.  One  said,  it  seems  to  me,  like  this:  "One  spring,  my  mother 
got  some  flower  seeds,  little  ugly  black  things,  and  planted  them;  they 
grew  and  blossomed  beautifully.  One  day,  a  neighbor  coming  in  and 
seeing  these  flowers,  said:  'Oh,  how  beautiful  !  I  must  have  some  to  !• 
Won't  you  please  give  me  some  seed?'  Now,  if  this  neighbor  had 
seen  the  flower  seeds,  she  would  not  have  asked  for  them;  'twas  only 
when  she  saw  how  beautiful  was  the  blossom  that  she  wanted  the 
seed."  And  so  it  is  with  Christianity.  Our  friends  may  not  want  to 
hear  about  being  Christians.  But  when  they  see  the  truth  of  Christ 
blossoming  out  in  our  lives  into  kindly  words  and  acts,  they  will  say: 
"How  beautiful  are  these  lives!  We  must  have  that  which  makes 
them  so  beautiful  !  "  Heavenly  wealth  and  wisdom  always  blossom 
out  into  kindly  service  for  others. 

The  wealth  and  wisdom  of  the  world  lead  to  sin;  while  those  that 
are  from  heaven  guide  to  holiness. 


There  was  a  young  woman  in  Foochow,  China,  whose  husband  died 
of  leprosy.  She  was  24  years  of  age,  and  as  she**  thought  she  had 
nothing  to  live  for,  she  decided  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  herself.  As  soon 
as  her  intention  became  known  she  received  invitations  to  grand  ban- 
qets,  all  of  which  she  accepted  and  enjoyed,  as  if  nothing  unusual 
was  to  occur.  After  a  special  feast  of  this  character  she  ascended  a 
stage  constructed  for  the  purpose,  where  the  village  elders  came  to 
make  their  obeisance,  each  three  times,  as  if  she  were  already  a 
canonized  saint.  Upon  a  signal  being  given,  she  strangled  herself  in 
the  sight  of  all  the  people.  This  was  considered  an  act  of  so  much 
virtue  that  it  is  said  the  emperor  is  to  grant  a  tablet  in  her  honor.  This 
great  crime  did  not  make  her  any  better,  and  it  did  no  one  else  any 
good.  The  wisdom  of  the  world  has  never  been  able  to  find  God  and 
His  holiness.  It  always  leads  men  into  sin,  as  it  led  this  poor  woman 
in  China. 

You  may  say:  "I  have  no  wisdom,  and  I  have  no  wealth."  That 
may  be  true  as  far  as  the  world's  wealth  and  wisdom  is  concerned. 
But,  however  young  and  poor  you  may  be,  you  may  have  the  heavenly 
wealth  and  wisdom,  for  you  may  be  His  children;  "and  if  children, 
then  heirs;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."  He  owns  all, 
and  you  may  inherit  it.  Christ  is  made  heavenly  wisdom  and  wealth 
unto  all  who  receive  Him.  Does  wealth  give  comfort  and  strength  in 
the  dying  hour? 

Let  me  tell  you  in  conclusion  of  two  persons,  both  of  whom  I  knew 
well;  one  was  wealthy,  the  other  wise.  The  one  was  accounted  at 
one  time  during  his  life  as  the  wealthiest  man  in  the  State  in  which  he 
lived.  He  was  known,  respectei  and  more  or  less  esteemed  and 
talked  about  all  over  the  State,  and  in  adjoining  States.  He  owned 
slaves  by  the  hundreds  and  up  into  the  thousands.  He  owned  broad 
acres  by  the  ten  thousands  in  more  States  than  one.  He  was  so  cir- 
cumstanced that  his  heart  hardly  knew  a  wish  that  his  means  could 
not  gratify.  He  was  chosen  by  his  fellow-men  to  occupy  many  posi- 
tions of  honor  and  trust.  He  had  the  entree  to  the  very  best  society; 
his  acquaintance  was  sought  by  the  most  honorable  of  men.  He  had 
large  investments  in  railroads,  factories,  stocks  and  bonds.  His  home 
was  situated  in  a  magnificent  park,  where  grew  all  manner  of  beauti- 
ful trees  ami  rare  shrubs.  In  person  he  was  of  commanding  appear- 
ance and  of  fine  physique — surrounded  by  a  cultured  and  refined  , 
family — to  all  appearances  he  was  happy,  if  wealth  and  position  could 
buy  happiness.  (     i^TjmM- 

The  other,  an  humble,  worthy,  but  poor  member  of  .Trinity  church,  ;  -  •  - 
with  the  comforts  probably  of  life;  but  few,  if  any,  of  its  luxuries,  ful- 
filling literally  the  scriptures:  "The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you;" 
but  deep  down  in  her  pure  consecrated  Christian  heart  she  had  hid  the 
pearl  of  great  price;  she  was  wise  unto  salvation;  she  was  poor  in 
worldly  sroods,  but  thanks  be  unto  God,  she  was  rich  in  thing's  that 


-23- 

perish  not  with  their  using.  She  was  wise  to  lay  up  for  herself  treas- 
ures in  heaven,  where  moth  does  not  corrupt,  nor  thieves  b 
through  and  steal.  She  was  poor,  as  the  world  reckons  poverty,  bul 
rich  toward  God — the  child  of  a  king — an  heir  of  God,  and  a  joint 
heir  with  His  son  Jesus  Christ.  Always  in  her  place  in  the  sanctuary 
when  her  physical  health  would  admit  of  it. 

It  is  evening — the  sun  is  setting — the  family  in  tears  are  gathered 
around  the  dying  bed  of  the  rich  man — the  faithful  family  physician, 
worn  out  by  anxious  weary  vigils,  is  there.  For  the  last  time  he  takes 
the  temperature  of  the  rich  but  dying  patient;  the  flickering  faint  pulse 
indicates  that  the  once  strong  man  has  come  to  the  very  waters  of  tin- 
river  of  death.  He  tells  the  grief-stricken  family  that  the  silver  cord 
is  about  to  be  loosed  and  the  golden  bowl  broken;  they  request  him 
to  break  the  news  to  the  dying  man.  When  told  that  he  was  dying, 
and  that  soon  the  struggle  will  be  over,  and  the  end  come;  in  the 
desperation  of  death  the  dying  millionaire  struggles  and  cries:  "What, 
me  die  -  me  -  me  -  .  Xo  I  cannot  die.  I  must  not  die."  Calling  to 
his  bedside  an  only  son,  he  said:  "My  son,  will  you  let  your  old 
father  die?  Your  father,  my  son  ?  "  And,  throwing  his  arms  around 
the  neck  of  his  manly  boy,  he  cried:  "Oh  my  son,  save  your  father; 
save  me. " 

Sickness  and  old  age  overtook  our  dear  aged  sister.  Tired  and  worn 
out,  her  weary  frame  was  laid  upon  her  lowly  couch.  Her  only 
daughter  watched  and  waited  faithfully  b)r  the  bedside  of  her  widowed 
mother;  she  herself  a  widow;  her  faithful  pastor  came  and  knelt  and 
prayed  in  the  humble  home.  Friends  were  kind  and  numerous.  Poor 
though  that  home  and  its  inmates,  everything  was  done  that  willing 
hands  and  loving  hearts  could  do  or  suggest.  Day  by  day  all  plainly 
recognized  that  the  dear  sister  had  come  down  to  the  brink  of  the  river 
of  death.  To-day  she  stepped  into  the  chilly  waters,  to-morrow  and, 
next  day  she  was  further  from  the  shore,  gradually  the  cable  was  slip- 
ping, slowly  but  surely  the  end  approached;  there  was  no  quaking, 
there  was  no  fear,  and  on  this  beautiful  Sabbath  morning  as  the  heavenly 
choir  swells  the  anthem:  "All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus  name,"  blessed 
be  God,  sister  Sarah  J.  Roberts  belongs  to  that  choir. 

"Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  His  saints." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032731820 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


